Month: March 2017

When I first heard about Googling from my late mother-in-law, I was skeptical. Jackie was relentless about converting people to her newest way of doing things. I felt I had her number so was prepared to be underwhelmed by the usefulness of Google. As usual, Jackie was right! Google was a great tool and it still remains one of my favorite tools.

Google looks so unassuming….

I used to just pop what I’m looking for into the search box and away I’d go. Recently, I learned some helpful search tricks that make me more of a Google Geek or at least more proficient in my Google searches. In the spirit of Jackie, here are just five of the cool search tricks that may help you supercharge your next Google search.

TIP ONE.

Don’t let a misremembered word or phrase stop you. Use an asterisk ‘*’ to tell Google that there is a missing word or group of words that should be filled in with the most relevant search result. For example, “Data that is being transmitted over the Internet, into the cloud, should be * to protect it.”

This is what Google figured out I was searching for:

TIP TWO.

Stumped by a slang term you think you should know for surviving holiday dinners with your teenaged nephew? Use “define:slangword” to finally find out what they are talking about.

This is what Google revealed about the term, “tweaker:”

TIP THREE.

If you want to find something quickly within a website, use “site:”

This is what Google revealed about the term, “practice management” on the Oregon State Bar website:

TIP FOUR.

Find links to certain websites with “link:” For example, do you want to know who has linked to your website or to your blog or even your firm’s Facebook page?

Here is what Google showed me about links to my blog:

TIP FIVE.

Search for specific words in a title by using “intitle:”

Here is what Google for articles about waiving attorney-client privilege:

I hope you can put these five Google search tips to use and keep your eyes and ears open for additional Google search tips!